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Itinerary for Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

I've been working on a trip for a couple of weeks to leave at the end of September, spend about three weeks mostly in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. I've read some of the trip reports here and a few travel books. My main interest really is photography plus getting back to Italy again for at least a few days.

FYI, I spent a lot of time trying to optimize my flights. First, I really wanted to take advantage of the direct PDX-AMS flights, at least inbound to start the trip. And getting back FROM Croatia to Portland in one day seemed impossible on NWA or partners without several connections. SO I decided to fly out of AMS home too and get back to AMS ahead of time. The PDX-AMS flight isn't every day (Mon,Thu,Fri,Sat only each way) so I had to plan around that.

Paris came into the picture at the end because of the need to get back at the end from Croatia to Amsterdam in the easiest, cheapest way possible. There's a direct flight on Wednesdays from Split to Paris and not at some ungodly early hour, either! And because it's Paris...why not stop there for a night at the end? It turns out not really to add to the overall cost, all things considered. And then there's that night in Amsterdam at the end which to be honest I'd rather avoid (rather spend an extra night in Paris, but seem not practical), but I didn't want to try some painful early flight out of CDG (and there is not decent one-stop return PDX-CDG on NWA or partners through MSP, DTW, or ATL like there used to be).. Doing it this way, I'll be able to do this entire trip with four airline flights TOTAL, for about $1000 total airfare.

You have done your homework---very nice trip.
I trust you may day trip to Bled from Ljub. one day, otherwise you do not need 3 nites in Ljub. Also, I was underwhelmed at Split. Have fun--I know you will.

From Split pop along the coast to Trogir. Only about an hour or less by bus, you can easily do it in half a day.
Check that Jadrolina goes on the days you need to get from Split to Hvar to Korcula. They only go twice a week and you wouldn't like to get stuck.
Trieste is well worth an overnight, best gelato shop I have ever found, unfortunately can't remember directions except that it was a few minutes walk inland from the train/bus station area.
Not sure if there's enough in Mostar for 3 nights unless you intend to just hang out and relax. It's certainly good for that.
Sounds a perfect trip. Enjoy it.

Thanks, Bob. There are several reasons for three nights in Ljubljana. First, I won't be arriving til probably 16:00 the first day from Trieste. Second, I'd like to explore Zagreb so hope to leave early that last morning in Ljubljana, since I'll have only the one night in Zagreb. Finally, Ljubljana looks like a beautiful city and I hope to spend some time photographing it. Three nights and mornings means more photographic opportunities!

(A day trip to Bled is definitely an option, though!)

People seem to be split on Split (pun intended!). I know some people don't care for it, but others rave about it. And I tend to like cities. I hope I like it! Split also seems to be a good jumping off point to Hvar/Korcula plus to fly back out to Paris. At best I could probably shave a day or even two perhaps from Split and stay elsewhere I suppose, assuming I could work out the logistics of getting to the ferry and to the airport at the end. There's still time to adjust this part of the trip. As I understand it the Dalmatian Coast is by early October starting to slow down so I'm guessing I wouldn't have much trouble re-arranging my lodgings last minute.

Thanks for the ferry tip, gertie! I hadn't looked carefully at the ferry schedule. Seems that I might need to leave for Hvar/Korcula a day earlier than planned, on the Monday morning ferry (and awfully early - yikes!). Maybe I can tour Plitvice lakes on Sunday and then drive to and stay in Split Sunday night. I'll have to look into this more.

No idea, but I expect it does. Timetables tend to stay the same.
Be careful about where it goes from; last year when I was looking at ferries I found one from Korcula which docked at the other end of the island from the Jadrolina ferries. Check. I ended up not being able to stop off in Korkula at all and having to stay on my ferry otherwise I would have been stranded for 3 days!

Depending on your interests, you might want more time in Zagreb or you might want to shift your time there around a bit. It looks like you would be there on a Saturday and Sunday. Most museums there close by mid-day on Sunday, and the city is remarkably quiet on Sunday afternoon - parts were essentially deserted!

Also, you might want to try to visit Korcula on a day when the moresca is performed.

Hi kja. I had considered more time in Zagreb, but I just don't know if it's in the cards. I think I'll try to arrive early from Ljubljana that first day. We'll see, I gave myself enough space to make adjustments to the trip by a day or so here and there.

It looks like there are catamarans between Split, Hvar, and Korcula once a day (except perhaps not Sunday) even in October - and I won't have a car, so that shouldn't be a problem. If I want to see both Hvar and Korcula without staying in Hvar (just a day trip) I guess I can take that Monday early morning Jadrolinija ferry from Split to Hvar, spend some hours wandering around, then the catamaran in the afternoon to Korcula. I'll have to see which days have the moresca performed there...

(I finally booked my plane ticket last night(!). I changed the end so I have two nights in Paris after all and none in Amsterdam - found a very early flight to connect in AMS, sweet!)

Just got back from Croatia and Slovenia. We loved Piran and Rovinj on the coast, and the rivers and gorges in Slovenia (Soca and Sava), just incredibly beautiful. Rafted in Bovec, a great little mountain town.